Gratitude and Appreciation Practices

Research has shown that people who practice gratitude and appreciation daily, reap amazing and magical benefits – to name but only a few:

Improves mental and psychological health

Improves physical health

Enhances empathy

Improves sleep quality

Enhances self-esteem

Increases mental strength

Enhances inner peace and inner happiness

Improves awareness and “living in the moment”

Ideas for Gratitude and Appreciation Practices:

First thing in the morning as soon as you wake up, write in your journal, let the words just flow, do not over think it, just write. This type of gratitude/appreciation practice sets the tone for the day and because you have just woken up, a lot will come from your subconscious mind. THIS practice is very powerful and you will see the benefits within a few days.

Journaling at night before bedtime; this practice gives you the opportunity to reflect back on the day past. You can write 3-5 things that you are TRULY grateful for. (If you want to write more, embrace it!) In this way you are completely focusing on all the good things that happened to you.

If you are not a “journaling” person, you can still practice gratitude the moment you wake up, and before you get out of bed, or whilst you have your morning shower, name all the things that you are grateful for. If you are a night time bath person with candles and bubbles, you can list the things that you are grateful for, you can even make bath time your gratitude/appreciation ritual.

You can light a gratitude candle and every time you pass the candle, you can say thank you.

Make a “Gratitude Jar” – Every day you can write on a little note, 3 things that you are grateful for, and throw it into your “Gratitude Jar”. When you feel down, you can take a note out and read what you have written in the past.

Take your “Gratitude Jar” on New Year’s Eve, remove all the notes, read through it and burn every note, blow the ashes into the air, this practice is very powerful as it releases gratitude and appreciation into the Universe, and it will come back to you three fold!

Find a beautiful stone or rock and keep it with you. Every time you see or touch the rock/stone, it is a reminder to say “Thank You.” Not only will this remind you to be grateful, but it serves as a “mini mindfulness” moment, giving you something to focus your attention on.

There are SO many ways to practice Gratitude and Appreciation and because Gratitude is a life changing practice, we will definitely write more about this.

Please let us know in the comments how you practice Gratitude and Appreciation, we would love to hear from you.